3D Animator Certifications

In the context of 3D animation, A certification is a third-party credential that results from passing an examination that tests your knowledge of this, that, or the other technical topic. These exams are administered independently of the school you attended, and amount to an objective measuring stick that attests to your mastery over a particular body of knowledge. They shouldn’t be confused with certificates. Those are the result of completing a certificate program at a non-degree granting school and are tantamount to a diploma in that the certificate attests to your having completed the course.

What is a 3D Animator?

A 3D animator is an illusionist who creates lifeless drawings that are seemingly imbued, not only with life, but also with the ability to inhabit a world with three-dimensional depth. Over the years, animators have striven to give 2D animation a sense of depth. One of the most successful experiments in this field was the multiplane camera invented by Ub Iwerks for Disney. As early as 1942, it was used to conjure up the gorgeous opening sequence of Bambi, but the 3D look to which moviegoers have become accustomed today is of far newer vintage. It really only began with Pixar’s experiments with computer animation that produced the first 3D animated feature, Toy Story.

Making images that created the illusion of a third dimension dates back to the 19th century, when stereoscopic viewers made it possible to view static images that appeared to possess depth. The Viewmaster of the 1960s was a later iteration of the stereoscopic viewer; it’s enjoying a bit of a renaissance as a curiosity in the 21st century. This stereoscopic technology was taken up by motion pictures as early as 1922, when The Power of Love was released and necessitated the wearing of red and green anaglyph glasses to create the illusion of depth. The anaglyph glasses have since been replaced by the clear polarized lenses you’re given to view 3D movies in cinemas and on theme park rides today.

Filmmakers have been playing around with 3D technology for over a century, and it’s caught on a few times (as in the 1950s), only to fade from popularity and be dismissed as a gimmick. There can be little question that the development of 3D animation has led the 21st century to embrace the latest 3D techniques, not only with the likes of Toy Story and Pixar’s other groundbreaking films, but also with live-action films such as Avatar or the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland, the visual fantasy of which was greatly increased by the use of 3D technology.

Although there’s been a drop off in live-action 3D movies since the 2010s, the technology is still going strong in the world of animation. Indeed, 3D animation has supplanted 2D techniques, which are now reserved mostly for lower budget television productions. 3D animation also lies at the core of video game design.

Into this world steps the 3D animator, or, rather, an entire army of 3D animators, as the process of creating this type of animation on the computer is painstaking in the extreme, far more so than the already painstaking process of hand-drawn 2D animation. The state of the art is such that 3D animators today can create photorealistic images that no longer look like drawings. However, a phenomenon known as the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis maintains that humans find animation that looks too close to real life to be unnerving or creepy. Thus the verisimilitude of which 3D images are capable is generally tempered using devices such as bigger-than-natural eyes so as not to disturb the viewer.

Because of the intricate nature of the work—you need at least 24 images per second to give 3D animation its illusion of life—3D animators concentrate on one aspect and one aspect alone of their work. To choose one example, animating human hair (not only Rapunzel’s in Tangled) is a discipline unto itself. Among the other roles taken by 3D animators are:

• Rigger (those who create the rigging, something like the skeleton of a character to be animated),
• Modeler (those who put the flesh, as it were, on the rigging),
• Key frame animator (analogous to the animators who did the principal drawings in the pencil-and-paper days),
• Background artist,
• Clothing animator (texture artist),
• Lighting artist,
• Clean-up artist,
• Digital ink and paint artist,
• Rendering artist, and
• Compositing artist.

That list isn’t exhaustive. There are many other roles and specialties, which explains why the credits for Disney movies go on forever. (Those for Toy Story 3 clock in at over six minutes.) 3D animation is still an experimental field, with many discoveries still to be made. To choose one example, no one knows how AI will affect the animation industry. There will probably always be a need for human animators to give soul to their creations, but artificial intelligence is sure to play a role in the animation process, the rule book for which remains under construction.

Do I Need a Degree to Become a 3D Animator?

There can be no question that the received wisdom is that a bachelor’s degree in animation or a closely related discipline is an essential stepping stone to a career as a 3D animator. Four years is a good amount of time to learn the tools of the trade and work up an impressive showreel. A four-year degree is also what most HR officers expect when they glance fleetingly at your resume.

That said, college isn’t necessarily for everyone for reasons that range from the personal to the pecuniary. A four-year degree costs a fortune today, and getting one at all costs may not be the stepping stone to an animation career you think it’s going to be. It’s far from being a magic pathway with guaranteed employment at the other end. People have made it into the animation game with associate’s degrees and even just a high school diploma: indeed, according to one set of figures from Zippia, only 72% of employed 3D animators have four-year degrees.

If you don’t have that bachelor’s degree, your chances of getting hired will be considerably improved by attending a certificate program at a school that specializes in equipping people with the kinds of tech skills they need to make it on the job market. These programs last months rather than the years it takes to get a college degree, and are priced far more reasonably, too. They focus entirely on the in-demand skill sets that any employed 3D animator needs to have and have you properly prepared to pound the proverbial pavement when you’re done with your program. This may not be the most traditional route to an animation career, but it has proven itself to be a very real possibility, especially if you have a terrific demo reel that will make the contents of your resume all but moot.

Do Certifications Matter for 3D Animators?

Third-party certifications vary in their importance. For some IT fields (cybersecurity analysts most of all), certifications are essential, and you won’t be able to get hired unless you have racked up the necessary credentials to prove that you possess the basic body of knowledge required to perform in a professional role.

Animation is rather a different case, and, in all frankness, certifications play far less of a role in getting you hired than that all-important showreel into which you should pour your blood, sweat, tears, and creative energies. Still, a certification is a feather in your cap, and, if nothing else, looks attractive on your LinkedIn profile. You’re not going to get hired because you’re certified in Maya, but, if it comes down to a decision between two people who are in all other respects equal and who both possess great demo reels, certification may give you an edge. Thus, getting certified is definitely not something you need to do if your goal is an entry-level position in 3D animation. On the other hand, it can’t hurt.

Certifications vs. Certificates: What’s the Difference?

The Latin word certus, meaning certain, lies at the root of both the words certification and certificate. In many contexts, the words are interchangeable, but not in the academic landscape under discussion here. You earn a certificate by attending a certificate program, which is to say an in-depth course of study from a non-degree granting school. If you do go to a school that grants degrees, you’re going to get a diploma rather than a certificate. (Diploma’s etymology goes back to its being a Greek word meaning folded paper, from diplous, meaning double. Apparently, Greek diplomas were all folded, albeit not into flapping cranes.) A certificate means you completed your course, but little beyond that. It doesn’t even mean that you passed a final exam. While it does show that you have been to school, it’s far from being an objective guarantee of your knowledge.

For that, you’re going to have to turn to a certification, a third-party yardstick that does measure your knowledge objectively. A certification shows that you’ve mastered whatever it is the certification exam covers. The two can be seen to work symbiotically: the certificate showing that you received an education, and the certification showing that you absorbed what that education sought to teach you. The certification is a good way of countering the subjectivity of a certificate, which could have come just as easily from Joe’s IT School and Hock Shop as from a reputable institution. 

How to Get Certified as a 3D Animator

Certiport writes and administers the Autodesk Certified User certification exams for Maya and Autodesk 3ds MAX, both of which show that you know what you’re doing with the software in question. To sit for the exam, you put yourself into the hands of the Certiport Store, where you can buy your exam voucher, study materials, and practice tests. A further resource can be found on the Autodesk website in the form of Autodesk University, which offers an exam prep video tutorial. Naturally, there is a fee for taking the exam, which can be retaken as many times as you’re willing to pay the fee. You may take the exam at one of Certiport’s myriad testing centers; those residing in the United States may avail themselves of online proctoring and take the test from home.

You have 50 minutes to complete the exam, which consists of a combination of general multiple-choice questions and practical tasks in which you’re called upon to make the software do something. Autodesk strongly recommends that you have 150 hours of experience (classroom or practical) with Maya before you sit for the exam.

Top Certifications & Certificates for 3D Animator

Probably the best certification to pursue if you’re starting out and still have limited knowledge of the whole spectrum of 3D animation software is the Autodesk Certified User exam for Maya. It will attest to your abilities with software that’s used extensively in both film and in game production. Especially if you’re starting out and don’t have a lot of experience with which to fill out your resume, the certification will make a good impression on those whose job it is to spend seven seconds on the average scanning your resume.

As far as certificates are concerned, you may well wish to consider Noble Desktop’s Motion Graphics Certificate, which combines instruction in After Effects for 2D animation and Cinema 4D Lite, the 3D animation program (despite the name) that ships with every copy of After Effects. Cinema 4D Lite is capable of quite a bit in terms of 3D modeling, and, of course, prepares you for using the full-featured version of Cinema 4D at some point in your career. Noble Desktop includes sessions with an experienced in-field mentor who can assist with everything from technical questions to showreel development. The course includes an entire module in demo reel development as well. A one-year retake is offered along with 0% interest payment plans.